Refrigeration apparatus



Jan. 7, 1936. M. E. HANSON REFRIGERATION APPARA TUS Filed Oct. 2, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 7, 1936. M. E. HANSON 2,027,336

REFRIGERATION APPARATUS Filed Oct. 2, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Iwvewi'or MILTON E. f/A/vso/v by W "cent years, the air ready of necessity has had Patented Jan; 7, 1936 I 2,027,336 REFRIGERATION APPARATUS Milton E. Hanson,

Collingswood, N. J., assignor to B. F. Sturtevant Company, Inc., Hyde Park,

Boston, Mass.

Application October 2, 1934, Serial N0. 746,618

7 Claims. This invention relates to the-conditioning of air for human comfort, and relates more particularly to the refrigeration and dehumidification ,of air circulated through passenger vehicles in summer and the heating and humidification of the air during winter.

It is now becoming well known that human comfort requires that the air within an enclosure should be not only circulated to provide sufficient ventilation, but should in winter, be warmed, with moisture added to maintain the proper relative humidity, and in summer should be cooled. and moisture extracted from it, to overcome the excessive humidity which is usually present.

While the conditioning of air for motion picture theaters, hotel, oflice and industrial buildings has been developed to a high degree in reconditioning of vehicles, and particularly railway cars, has been moreor less neglected, due, perhaps, to the peculiar problems involved and the many difiiculties present. Among the difliculties which present themselves are the lack of space in a railway car which alto accommodate the maximum of equipment in the minimumof space, the excessive refrigeration equipment which would have to be carried if the ordinary method of conditioning buildings were followed, the

changing temperature conditions through which a railway'car must pass, the cost of the equipment, and other difficulties. The weight of refrigerating systems is a series factor, particularly whenthis weight must be carried all year round.

-The cost of mechanical systems of refrigeration are so high, the equipment so bulky, and its weight so great that in many instances, especially on short runs and on long runs where there is an opportunity for re-icing, many railroads have preferred to use ice systems for supplying the necessary cooling eifect in railway passenger cars. Itis a fact that, while ice has many advantages for air conditioning purposes, such for example as low initial cost and ease of installation, it has the outstanding disadvantages that the amount of ice required is great and on long runs re-icing is required.

According to this invention, air conditioning systems utilizing dry ice for the cooling of air which from sixteen to twenty cakes creasing due to increasing use of the substance in all classes of refrigeration.

According to a feature of thisinvention, a unique form of cooling surface for cooling the air through the use of 'dry ice is provided.

An object of the invention is to -cool air through the use of dry ice. 7'

Another object of the invention is to provide a unique form of heat exchange surface, between dry ice and the fluid to be cooled thereby.

Other objects of the invention will be "apparent from the following description taken with the drawings. 3

Thewinvention will now be described with reference to the drawings, of which:

Fig. 1 is a plan viewlooki'ng downwardly on a cooling compartment utilizing dryice arranged in the upper portion and in one end of a railway car;

Fig. 2 is an end view in section of the apparatus shown by Fig 1;

. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the cooling compartment taken along the lines 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a side view of a portion of a railway. car, showing one end of the car with a side removed, with an air cooling unit utilizing dry ice mounted in the vestibule and amacent a side of the car, and

Fig. 5 is a plan view looking downwardly on a railway car, with the top removed, equipped at each end with the'unit shown by Fig. 4.

In the embodiment shown by Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, the insulated cooling compartment 40 is mounted in the roof zone of the car. The dry ice compartment 4| has a loading door 48 inof dry ice may be placed to-rest upon the thin metal sheet 42 folded as illustrated to form a. bellows or accordion-like extended surface. The weight of the dry ice causes it to press itself closely against the upper surfaces of the sheet 42, and, after a short period of time, the lower surfaces of the dry ice cakes fit themselves into the V-shaped notches I of the sheet 42. The metal sheet 42 is spaced above the floor of the compartment 40 to form an air passage having as its lower wall the floor of the compartment, and having as its'upper wall the lower surfaces of the extended surface sheet 42. The air supplied to the passenger space is drawn in by the blower 43 through the channel 44 and between the angled surfaces of the extended surface 42 and the floor of the compartment lll. Mixed recirculated and outside air is drawn in through the inlet 45, passes between the angles of the extended surface 42, of which there are, as shown byFig. 3, a large, number in parallel, and is then ,drawn into the blower 43 and discharged through the discharge outlet 46 in a duct or ductless distribution system as desired.

Due to the conformation of the lower surfaces of the dry ice cakes with the entire upper surface of the extended surface 42, considerable heat exchange surface is provided. The air to be cooled passes in contact with the same amount of surface in its passage through and in contact with the surface of the under sides of the V-shaped notches.

The blower 43 is driven by electric motor 41, which in turn is energized by the car lighting system.. The moisture collected through the dehumidification of the air is collected on the floor of the compartment 40 and may be drained to any suitable location through a pipe connected to the drain 49.

In another embodiment of the invention, the ice cooling system is, except for a small amount of duct work, mounted in the vestibule of the car and opposite the door through which one enters from the station platform. Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5, the vestibule 50 of the car has arranged in it the ice bed 5|, which, as shown. contains three ice compartments 52, 53 and 54 respectively. Forming the floor of the foremost ice compartment is a thin metal sheet 55folded to form an accordion or bellows-like extended surface, beneath which, and spaced a slight distance below which, is a corresponding and cooperating folded sheet 56. Likewise, the compartments 52 and 53 have floors of similar folded sheets 51 and 58 respectively, with each of which are associated the cooperating bellows-like sheets 59 and 60 respectively, which, in these instances, form the upper portions of the ice bins 53 and 54 respectively.

4 The ice cakes in each of the compartments 52, 53 and 54, by their weight, press themselves down into the V-shaped spaces in the extended surfaces 51, 58 and 55 respectively, and, of course, contact with a large area of each extended surface. The cooperating pairs of extended surfaces form tortuous paths which cause the air passing between them to contact with a large area of very cold surface. Outside air is drawn into the compartment through the outside air inlet 6|. Recirculated air is drawn in throughthe recirculated air inlet 62. The mixed recirculated and outside air passes first between the cooperating extended surfaces 55 and. 58 and through the passage 63,

next between the cooperating surfaces 58 and 60, and through the passage '64, next between the co- ,pperating extended surfaces 51 and 59, and then through the passage and into the blower 66. The cooled air then passes into the car through the duct 61 and is discharged from the discharge outlet 68 into the passenger space.

As shown by "Fig. 5, the air is distributed in a ductless system, each end of the car being provided with a unit such as shown by Fig. 4, one unit serving to blow the air down along one side of the car and overhead the passenger space, and the other unit serving to cool the air and blow same down the other side of the car and overhead the passenger space. In this form of ductless system, the cold air diifuses slowly down by gravity, and prior to reaching the space actually occupied by passengers, passes in contact with warmer air in the area between the passengers and the current of moving cold air. Thus, the air may be cooled to a very low temperature by compartments,

the dry icesystem so that it gives up a large portion of its moisture content, and yet the air entering the immediate vicinity of the passengers, having been considerably warmed by contact with warmer air on its way downwardly, is at a high enough temperature so as not to produce uncomfortable sensations among passengers.

Whereas several embodiments of the invention have been described for, purposes of illustration, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact embodiments described, since many modifications may occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the real inventive concept.

What is claimed is:

1 Air cooling apparatus utilizing dry ice as a source of cold, comprising a pair of ice compartments mounted one above the other and spaced 2. small distance apart, the upper and lower walls of both compartments being formed from thin 20 metal sheet, means for placing dry ice in said said lowermost compartment having a thin metal sheet forming one vertical side thereof, said uppermost compartment having a thin metal sheet forming a vertical side 25 thereof on the side of said compartment opposite to. that from said side of said undermost compartment, and means for passing air to be cooled in contact with the lower wall of said undermost compartment, the vertical side of said 3 undermost compartment, between said compartments, said vertical side of said uppermost compartment, the upper wall of said uppermost compartment, and for discharging it into the space to be served. 35

2. Air cooling apparatus utilizing dry ice as a source of cold, comprising a pair of ice compartments spaced a small distance apart, each having a thin sheet metal well formed with a plurality of substantially V-shaped accordion-like folds on that side adjacent the other compartment, means for placing dry ice in said compartments, and means for passing air to be cooled between said compartments and for discharging it intothe space to be served. 1

3. Air cooling apparatus utilizing dry ice as a source of cold, comprising a pair of ice compartments mounted one above the other and spaced a small distance apart, each having a thin metal wall formed with a plurality of substantially V- shaped accordion-like folds on that side adjacent the other compartment, means for placing dry ice in said compartments, and means for passing air to be cooled between said compart-, ments and for discharging it into the space to be served.

4. Air cooling apparatus utilizing dry ice as a source of cold, comprising a pair of ice compartments mounted one above the other and spaced 9. small distance apart, the uppermost of said compartments having a thin sheet metal lower wall formed with a plurality of substantially V- shaped accordion-like folds, the lowermost 'of said compartments having a thin sheet metal upper wall formed with a plurality of substantially v-shaped accordion-like folds, means for placing dry ice in said compartments, and means for forcing air between said walls and for discharging it into the space to be served.

5. Air cooling apparatus utilizing dry ice as a source of cold, comprising a pair of ice compartments mounted one above the other and spaced a: small distance apart, the lower walls of both of said compartments being thin metal sheets passing the air to be cooled in contact with the lower wall of the undermost compartment and through the space between said compartments,

and for discharging it into the space to be served. 6. Air cooling apparatus utilizing dry ice as a source of cold, comprising a pair of ice compartments mounted one above the other and spaced a,

small distance apart, the upper andlower walls of both. compartments being formed from thin metal sheet formed with a plurality of substantially V-shaped accordion-like folds, means for placing dry ice in said compartments, and means for passing the'air to be cooled in contact with the lower wall 01' the undermostcompartment, between said compartments, and in contact with the upp r wall of the uppermost compartment, and for discharging it into the space to be served.

L 3 '7. Air cooling apparatus utilizing dry ice as a source of cold, comprising a pair of,ice compartments mounted one above the other and spaced I a small distance apart, the upper and lower walls of both compartments being formed from thin metal sheet formed with a plurality of substantially V-shaped accordion-like folds, means for. placing dry ice in said compartments, said lowermost compartment having a thin metal sheetforming one vertical side thereof, said upper- 1 most compartment having a thin metal sheet forming a vertical side thereof on the side of said compartment opposite to that from said side 7 of said undermost compartment, and means for passingair to be cooled in contact with the lower 1 wall of said undermost compartment, the vertical side of said undermost compartment, be-

tween said compartments, said vertical side of 

